Nineteen people were killed by suicide bombs in both Kabul and Khost on March 9, notes AFP, driving Karzai to claim that the Taliban was playing both sides of the conflict, attacking Afghans while negotiating with Americans.

"The Taliban said they wanted to show their strength (by launching the attacks)," said Karzai, according to AFP. "This is while the leaders of the Taliban, their representatives, are every day at meetings with the Americans abroad.

"We know about it, both the foreigners tell us about it and the Taliban. In Europe as well as in Gulf countries, the Taliban and the Americans and foreigners are in talks on a daily basis."

According to AAP, Karzai claimed that the attacks were being used as a Taliban effort to make the 2014 draw-down of US troops less palatable to the Afghan government, claiming that "they are trying to frighten us."

"This is simply incorrect," said a US official anonymously to Reuters of the remarks. "We continue to support an Afghan-led process of political reconciliation."